Alainee Pichon said she wasn't nervous about her Edna Karr High School audition. When band director Chris Herrero, natty in a bow tie and letter sweater, asked the skinny mellophonist to play a scale, she gamely complied. When he asked, "That the only one you know?" she played a second scale.

But when Herrero started the sight-reading portion, Alainee stared at the sheet music and seemed to freeze. "E, F, G," Herrero sang, giving her an assist. Alainee played E, E, E.

The stakes were far higher than turning her purple headband into a purple and gold Karr band uniform. The eastern New Orleans eighth grader wasn't auditioning just to join the band she loved to watch on YouTube; she was auditioning for overall admission to the popular Algiers high school.

And for that she can thank the new, selective program that administrators created for Karr's first year in the OneApp common enrollment system, yet another quirk in New Orleans' unique and sometimes baffling experiment in school reform.

OneApp's new, early round

Since Hurricane Katrina, when the state took over most New Orleans public schools, the city has had two school systems, both consisting mostly of charter schools. It also has an additional four independent state charters. Now in its third year, OneApp aims to streamline application by letting families use one form to apply to many schools, similar to the Common Application for colleges.

Families list as many as eight choices, and a computer algorithm matches students with available seats. The system also promises transparency, because schools must list their priority and selection rules up front.

All but 10 of the almost 90 public schools are participating for 2014-15. New to OneApp this year are the state charters plus Karr and its sister school, Alice Harte Elementary. And unlike prior years, several of the newcomers had admission requirements.

Selective programs require more time to test or audition applicants, said OneApp director Gabriela Fighetti. Beyond that, some schools have historically done their admissions process in the fall, "and there was no reason not to accommodate them."

To do so, OneApp pushed its schedule up two months. Enrollment started in November and ends Feb. 28. There was an early Dec. 20 deadline for 11 selective programs at five schools. All applicants would hear back at the same time, in early April. Schools may choose to reopen the selective programs for the second OneApp round.

"OneApp is meant to serve families and schools," Fighetti said. "Schools are key partners in the development of it."

The early results

The results were surprising. By Dec. 20, 3,773 applications had come in, but only 811 were for early-deadline programs, according to data provided by the OneApp team. The rest just took the opportunity to get their OneApp in early.

"We were really excited to see how many applications came in" for non-selective programs, Fighetti said. "We interpret it as them being excited to get started with their choice process."

Families may continue to change the open-admissions programs on their OneApps until the Feb. 28 main-round deadline.

Among the selective programs, the most popular were elementary language immersion. The International School of Louisiana received 632 applications for its Spanish track, 308 for French.

Lycee Francais received 17 applications for its first through fourth grades, which require a language exam. More than 300 students applied through Dec. 20 for its open kindergarten and pre-kindergarten, which remained available in the main round.

International High School offered one open track and five selective, with a range of language and academic requirements. None proved very popular. There were 24 applicants for Spanish immersion, 10 for French immersion and 27 for pre-International Baccalaureate. No one applied to the International Baccalaureate or Bard Early College tracks; the school left them available for the main round.

These figures include applicants from outside Orleans Parish, who are allowed to attend the International School, International High and Lycee.

McDonogh #35 Senior High had 88 applicants for its new STEM Magnet Academy, a school within a school.

And 102 musicians applied for Karr's band.

Why a band program?

"At this point, the OneApp is a fact. We embrace it," Karr Principal John Hiser said a few days before the December deadline.

He had heard complaints from administrators of Orleans Parish's conventional high schools, which were dragged into OneApp last year. They said OneApp meant some students who were desperate to attend their schools got shut out by kids who had only a casual interest, or ones whose parents were impressed by the name.

In particular, Eleanor McMain Secondary and McDonogh #35 administrators complained they were deprived of athletes and musicians. Those two schools persuaded the Orleans Parish School Board to let them drop out of OneApp over the summer. They later came under fire for enrolling significant amounts of students on their own.

So Karr administrators put their heads together. "We're trying to be creative. We're trying to be inventive. We're trying to be cooperative," Hiser said. Still, "We've got to make sure we don't violate sensibilities as well as rules. If we don't pass the smell test, the public's not going to buy it."

Karr was once a magnet school but dropped its entrance requirements after Hurricane Katrina.

Administrators opted to give priority to Algiers residents, hoping to forestall complaints from neighbors. The Louisiana High School Athletic Association prohibits preferential admissions for athletes. But music was fair game. Hiser reasoned, "Band directors want their band students."

Just a few weeks before OneApp started, Herrero, the band director, was told to come up with a curriculum and a scoring rubric.

How band admissions worked

The band was not, in fact, Alainee Pichon's only chance to get into Karr.

But she had a better shot going the band route: 102 applicants for 50 spots, so 50 percent right off the bat, even before the auditions. By contrast, one month before the open-admission program closed, it already had 660 applications for 300 ninth-grade seats, with more than 400 ranking the school their top choice. Usually Karr gets fewer than 400 ninth-grade applications overall, said Emily Ferris, Karr's director of admissions and development.

Herrero's system gave a score of 1 to 5, with 1 being best, on seven categories. To qualify for the band program, applicants needed an average score of 3. Everyone who met the mark had an equal chance of getting in - they wouldn't be ranked by score.

Each applicant was contacted at least three times to set up an audition, Herrero said. Students who didn't come in or who scored too low would be considered for Karr's open-admissions program if they list it on their OneApp.

Acknowledging concerns about manipulating results, Ferris said Karr administrators "were working hard to make sure we're true to the process and maintaining the process' integrity." Band applicants had to sign an agreement promising to be in the band for one year - not cheerleading, not football. The Orleans Parish School Board charter office is monitoring auditions and rankings.

And the Karr band, after all, was not as exclusive as, say, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. For example, Herrero gave a 1-minus to Alonzo Jacobs, who before the audition had never touched a drum. He taught Alonzo a simple lesson, the first in the percussion book: quarter notes and rests, then eighth notes and rests.

"You catch on good, for a beginner," Herrero said. "Real good." At home the eighth grader drums with ink pens all over the house, all day, every day. He put on a black dress shirt for his audition.

"I can tell he's got a lot of potential," Herrero told parent Alana Jacobs afterwards. To her, he promoted the band's extra-musical benefits. One of his 2013 seniors "didn't know how to play anything at all when I met him," he said -- but went to college with "extra money in his pocket." And students must maintain a 2.0 to be in the band or else attend tutoring.

"That's the most important," Alonzo's mother said approvingly. It mattered to Alonzo, too: He wanted to go "straight to college," he said, "to study, earn my degree."

What's next

While Herrero auditioned applicants, the sounds of the Karr band drifted in from outside, drilled by his assistants. "It feels weird not being out there," he said. Auditioning all those students turned February, always a busy month for him, into a wall-to-wall drive with no days off.

But he said the opportunity was worth it. He's a 28-year-old Karr band alumnus. The Karr band has about 80 students, twice the number as when he became the band director four years ago. He didn't want 50 of those new applicants; he wanted every single one.

"I'm definitely excited about this opportunity to bring these kids in," he said.

Back in the audition room, Alainee Pichon's 15-minute tryout was over. She hung her head, looking dejected.

"I know you were a little nervous, more than a little," Herrero told her. But he reassured her: "I can tell you're scared. I can tell you can play."

He praised her tone and ability to read rhythms. Really, mostly what she needed was confidence. "I know we can bring out in the best in you," he said.

He showed her the audition sheet: four 1s and three 2s, for an overall rating of 1.

"That should get you into the school," he said.

Applications via OneApp for selective programs, 2014

Program

Applications (#)

Lycee Francais, Grades 1-4

17

International School of Louisiana: Camp Street Campus (French)

308

International School of Louisiana: Camp Street Campus (Spanish)

414

International School of Louisiana: Olivier Street Campus (Spanish)

218

McDonogh #35 College Preparatory High School: STEM Magnet Academy

88

Edna Karr High School: Band Program

102

International High School: Pre-International Baccalaureate Program

27

International High School: International Baccalaureate Program

0

International High School: Bard Early College Program

0

International High School: French Immersion Program

10

International High School: Spanish Immersion Program

24

Source: OneApp team. Individual students may have applied to more than one program at a given school.

Most Read

Breaking News/Live events

Latest live event and breaking news, weather, sports and entertainment updates as they happen.

Leave this field blank

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for signing up!

Please check you inbox, and approve the verification email. If you dont' see it, check your spam folder. To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.